Gopher Football
An odd offensive day for Northwestern
This was one of the stranger offensive games I’ve ever seen.
“¢ Northwestern opened the game up on fire. They came out in a no-huddle, executed crisply, and moved the ball. They gained yards on first down, and clearly had the Gophers on their heels. A few times when Northwestern snapped the ball, the Gophers were still running around and trying to get into position. The Gophers had no answers for the no-huddle on the first two drives, until they finally stopped the Wildcats deep in Gophers territory on their second possession, forcing the Wildcats to settle for a 34-yard FG and a 10-0 lead. At this point a switch seemed to flip in the Gophers defense, as suddenly the Northwestern offense couldn’t do anything. With one large exception:
“¢ For whatever reason, the Gopher defense could not figure out how to stop the running of backup QB Mike Kafka. For most of the last three quarters, designed running plays scrambles by Kafka were about the only offensive plays that worked for the Wildcats. Since Kafka had so little playing time before this game, I doubt there was very much the Gophers could’ve done to prepare for this, so from that perspective I don’t fault them too much. It’s interesting that the two games where the Gophers have given up big chunks of rushing yards to QB’s (in this game and against Ohio State), the problems have seem to come when the QB has run laterally and been able to get outside, or just strung out the line and waited for the hole to open. The Gophers did much better against Juice Williams and Kellen Lewis when they ran more straight ahead.
“¢ On the game, Kafka had 27 rushes for 217 yards, and that includes yardage lost on sacks. Adam Weber had 53 yards rushing of his own. Meanwhile, the leading running backs for both team had 21 carries for only 27 yards. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the two QB’s dominate their teams running games like I did today.
The killer
There was one particular moment today (before the game winning INT) that really changed the course of the game. Early in the third quarter the Gophers got the ball on the Northwestern 5 yard line. Over 15 plays and 8 minutes the Gophers moved 92 yards down the length of the field, eventually getting a first down on an Eric Decker run at the Northwestern 8 yard line. It looked like the Gophers were in great position to get a TD and pull ahead, but instead, it was here that the Gophers fortunes began to turn. On Decker’s run, he suffered an apparent sprained ankle and limped off the field. On first down, DeLeon Eskridge rushed 5 yards to the Wildcat 2 yard line. But then on second down, Adam Weber lost 2 yards on a run, and then on 3rd down, with Decker out, Weber’s pass was not close to being completed. The Gophers then lined up for a 20 yard Field Goal, which Joel Monroe pushed to the right. So after one of the most impressive Minnesota drives in recent memory, the Gophers came out with zero points. This happened too early in the game to say for any certainty that this was the reason the Gophers lost, but there is no arguing it was a huge momentum killer. After the missed field goal, you started to get that dreadful feeling that the Gophers were not going to win this game.
More kicking struggles
Last week in my recap I wrote: “œLast With the Gopher offense struggling it will become increasingly important for Monroe to convert when his number is called.“. Unfortunately for the Gophers today, Monroe did not convert when the Gophers needed him today, when he missed on the 20 yard field goal attempt. As I mentioned above, it’s impossible to say whether this cost the Gophers the game, but it very well could have. Also, there was another close call on a Joel Monroe extra point when the ball slid just inside the right upright. I’m going to say once again for next week, that given the Gophers deficiencies on offense right now, the kickers will simply need to convert the opportunities they’re given.
Questionable decision at the end of the game
The big thing everyone is going to be talking about from this game going forward is the decision by the coaching staff to try and be aggressive and get into FG position at the end of the game. If you didn’t see it, with the score tied at 17-17, the Gophers got the ball with 47 seconds left at the Northwestern 13 yard line, and only 1 timeout. After two incomplete passes, the Gophers got a first down on a 16 yard pass to Eric Decker. This pushed the Gophers up to their own 29 yard line with 26 seconds left. Even though the Gophers still needed at least 40 yards to get into field goal range, the Gophers continued to try and go for the win, but on the first play, Northwestern picked off the pass and returned it for the winning touchdown. The questioning on the play is this. Should the Gophers have even tried to win the game in that situation? Or should’ve they just settled for overtime? The Gophers would’ve needed to move the ball about 60 yards to get into Joel Monroe field goal range, and even if they get there, Monroe is struggling anyway, so nothing is a given. Additionally, Eric Decker was still obviously feeling the effects of the injury he suffered late in the third quarter, so your top receiving threat was limited. Another thing to think about is what kind of message this sends to the team. Brewster has usually been aggressive decision maker, saying he likes to show confidence in the team, so perhaps this will pay dividends at some point in the future. It was a similar gutsy call that won the game against Northern Illinois.
Running game struggles again
I noted in my preview that I thought that the Gophers would struggle running the football, but I didn’t think it would be this bad. I don’t know exactly why, but De Leon Eskridge was given only 9 carries, and he gained only 15 yards. Considering these numbers, I’m actually kind of impressed that the Gophers were able to accumulate 395 yards of total offense. Weber did a nice job running today, leading the team with 53 yards, and he also did a nice job spreading the ball around through the air. But the lack of a running game is continuing to hurt this team, especially in short yardage situations. Right now the Gophers are unable to confidently gain 3 yards on a 3rd and 2. Even 3rd or 4th & 1 to go are no gimmies. Today we saw this come back to bite them by the goal line before the missed Joel Monroe field goal. I think that it’s probably too late to expect improvement in this area any time this year, so for the Gophers to be successful offensively from here on out, I think they’re going to have to open up the field with pass, and then maybe they can mix in the run for some positive yardage.
Traye Simmons has a breakout day
Simmons put the “œBP” in “œBig Play Traye” today with his first multi-interception game as a Gopher. In the second quarter, Traye made a great read on an NU pass, easily cutting in front of the receiver, intercepting the ball and returning it for a touchdown. Later in the game, Simmons made a nice grab of a badly underthrown pass for his second interception of the day. Simmons’ play was a big reason why Northwestern went into conservative mode whenever they were in what seemed to be obvious passing situations. It will be fun to watch Traye and Marcus Sherels play in the Gophers secondary for another year.
Fake Field Goal is a bust
A show of hands… After the way Joel Monroe has kicked the last few weeks, how many Gopher fans actually believed that the coaches would put him out there to kick a 48 yard field goal? I’m all for faking kicks, but you need to do it in a situation where the defense will be caught off guard. That certainly wasn’t the case with Northwestern today. The Wildcats were so prepared for it, I believe they actually had our primary receiver double covered (Not to mention Lee Campbell, the secondary receiver was covered as well). This play brought back memories of the Gophers ““ Michigan State game in 2003. As the Gophers were mounting a comeback against the Spartans, they found themselves in a 4th and goal from about the 5 yard line. They pitched to Marion Barber, who then attempted a halfback pass. Not surprisingly, the Gopher receivers were well covered, because, well, nobody actually thought Barber was actually going to run in that situation. And if he did run, the defense had 10 yards to stop him. Like that play, this FG was a situation where the other team was not fooled. The trick plays need to be saved for use in the correct situations.
Can offense survive without Decker?
After Decker sprained his ankle, he didn’t put a lot of weight on his foot as he limped off the field. He did however return to the game the next time the Gophers had the ball, and actually went on to make a couple of nice catches. But on the play where Northwestern had the game-winning interception, Decker again was limping badly after. We’ll have to wait and see if Decker will be ready to go for next week, but it does raise the question of whether the Gopher offense can survive without him. While this type of development would’ve seemed devastating earlier in the season, one positive aspect of the offense recently has been that other receivers are starting to chip in too. Today, Ben Kunzia led all Gopher receivers with 98 yards on 7 receptions. Brandon Green had 5 catches for 37 yards, Jack Simmons 6 for 37, Nick Tow-Arnett 2 for 57, and DeLeon Eskridge 3 for 23. Give credit to all of these guys for having nice games, as well as Weber for finding them. The big question though is how much of this success is due to Decker drawing the focus of the defense? Could these players maintain their production if Decker is out? Hopefully this is a question we will not have to answer, and Decker will be able to play next week against Michigan.
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